Things

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Pilot 55

The 55th Pilot Project at ODC will show on the weekend of November 21 and 22. Ara Glenn-Johansen is making a piece with four dancers, me one of them.

Several weeks ago we started looking for material through Grotowsky's plastiques-method. I enjoy oscillating between movement and imagery, so there were many happy and fun-filled moments for me. All the four of us are very different movers, performers and bodies, and I think that accounts for much of the interesting moments as well. We accompany and compliment each other on the floor. The next phase has been to carve the selected material into a choreography.

Seeing the process from the viewpoint of a dancer has so far been educational and liberating for me. Dancing is fun! I get to concentrate on one performance instead of the whole. At the same time I must remember to ask if Ara wants to hear my possible ideas about the piece. This crew has had good talks.

Last couple of weeks Ara has been working on a solo with me as well. I generated the material in one of the sessions, and Ara has guided me towards a set dance. I am happy and nervous at the same time.
This is a great chance for me to work with four lovely and talented people: Ara, Dominique, Em, and Jean. Come and see us @ ODC on Sat Nov 21 & Sun Nov 22!

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Welcome to my blog!

I make dance performances, and I specifically target subjects that overlap with philosophical queries.

Live art is a meaningful way of researching, challenging, and creating world. We exist as bodily creatures. That is why our interactions in space and time are such an important vehicle of art and research.

On these pages I write my thoughts on choreography. In each project I'm involved in, new aspects of the choreographic process surface.

Organizing these ponderings in blogs will hopefully help me in my work, as well as open new views on the actual performances for the audience members.

Also, I will publish and report on new and past projects.

Photos: Keira Heu-Jwyn Chang

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Minna Harri Experience Set mission statement

Bodie's experience is the basis for Minna Harri's choreographic work.

She is inspired by the ongoing shift of paradigm where scientists and thinkers are starting to understand intellect, emotion, and somatics as inseparable from each other. This has powerful consequences to colonized bodies.

Minna produces work with ensembles under the name Experience Set. This provides opportunities to come together in the creative process and challenges professional performers and creators from different disciplines, cultures and generations.

About Me

I am a choreographer currently based in San Francisco. I have lived in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and in my native Helsinki, Finland. In addition to studies in ballet, butoh, contemporary techniques, flamenco, tango, and singing, I have studied Performance and Theory in the Finnish Theater Academy. That is a multidisciplinary program that focused on live arts. I am thankful for the guidance by professor Annette Arlander, and Juha-Pekka Hotinen. I finished my studies with a MFA in 2006.
My past projects include choreographies, installations, performances, and essays.

Monday May 9 at University of San Francisco Minna Harri will talk about choreography and her project "Things" specifically. 6.15PM

June 10 & 11: "Like this" an evening of performance curated by Jesse Hewit at Garage, 975 Howard Street San Francisco. 8PM. This evening showcases three performance makers that utilize queer tactics: Maryam Rostami, Peter Max Lawrence and Minna Harri. Part of the National Queer Arts Festival. Minna Harri Experience Set will premiere TOXIC in its entirety. We worked hard since September 2010, don't miss this!

July 14, 15, 16 8PM: Minna Harri Experience Set Residency will culminate in a show @ Garage, 975 Howard Street San Francisco. The much expected next installment of the multi-year Things-project will be premiered. Please be welcome!

Participant in Spring SQUART (March 2010 - part of the winning team, yay!), Pride Squart (June 2010) and Halloween Squart (October 2010) at the Lab in San Francisco, organized by Laura Arrington and The Offcenter.

"Life Sustenance" June 4&5 2010 Subterranean Arthouse. An ensemble piece about the things in life that keep us humans alive.